Isabelle Allen, left, is young Cosette and Hugh Jackman is Jean Valjean in the motion-picture adaptation of 'Les Miserables,' directed by Tom Hooper.

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Taken on its own terms, the film adaptation of "Les Miserables" is a splendid achievement - an adroit mixture of the intimate and the spectacle.

Director Tom Hooper has traded the soaring voices of the stage presentation for a concept incorporating dramatic interpretations of the songs that, while not as vocally exhilarating as Broadway, makes this transition more cinematically palatable.